Milwaukee downtown and Brady St. report

I'm grateful to all who recommended places to eat during my recent half-week at the Hyatt and MATC. Milwaukee is a good place to wear out shoe leather thanks to the handsome 19th century buildings downtown, working public clocks, river, and lake. Addresses at the end.

Note: Not all of these places were recommended on this board.

Zaffiro's: I ordered my pizza wrong (raw garlic, onions, and black olives) and drank wrong (water). The saltiness of the olives needed balance, and I bet Zaffiro's uses a good neighborhood sausage with fennel in it. And thin-crust pizza like that cries out for beer to wash it down. I hope to return to do it right.

Sahar: The Persian food here was drab and unfresh the night I visited.

Alladin: The lunch buffet left me smiling. The baked fish had some spice, the baba ghannouj was properly smoky, and the falafel was not hard and dry, despite being under heat lamps.

Cream City Cafe: I liked the solid American room, the pasta salad with surprisingly crisp red and yellow peppers, and the chicken salad sandwich.

Cempazuchi: Here I not only ordered wrong but went at the wrong time. I should have splurged and gone at supper for Oaxacan mole since the lunch menu is only border Mexican. I ordered the special of spinach and shrimp tacos expecting the spinach to be cooked and the shrimp to be in an inventive sauce. The spinach was raw and minced, the naked shrimp tasted soapy, and the sauce was a dollop of chipotle mayo hard to mix with the spinach, shrimp, and chopped onion and tomato.

Mykonos Gyros & Cafe: The spinach and feta omelet was ordinary and came with only toast on the side. Open at 7:00 a.m. even on Sunday.

Aveni's: For $5.25 I carried out a sub of turkey and homemade gardineria (sp.?), a small container of fontanella cubes and green grapes, and a small salad of tomato, mozzarella, and basil. All were fresh and hit the spot.

Next time I'd like to try Au Bon Appetit (closed for lunch Saturday), Hotel Metro (their sidewalk sign offered skatewing with capers for lunch), and Espionage (looked smart). Again, thanks for the help. Your pointers were the backbone of my trip.

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